...AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Morrisons have been having lots of fun over the holidays, but
boy, have we been busy! Parties at daycare, home, Nanny and Papaw's, Nanno and Daddo's and Minas' so far, and one to go this weekend. Reid has been busy being, well...busy, over the past several days and has enjoyed showing off all his cute tricks for the aunts and uncles who don't get to see him very often. On Monday, he danced and danced for the Morrison girls and kept them laughing.

Most of the boxes and paper are gone, but there are still things to put away and clean up and sort out and as far as old stuff, there is plenty to get rid of. Maybe Mommy will do that this friday on her day off, but more than likely she'll take a nap and get up in time to take another nap.

New Year's plans are still up in the air, but could include anything from spending the evening with friends to spending the evening in jammies with a bottle of wine, some food and the television. Either way, its all good as we start out 2008. You never know what the new year might bring!


So to all our family and friends, we wish you a safe and happy New Year's eve, and a very blessed 2008!

TRANSLATING REID-ESE

Reid's language is really picking up these days. But if you haven't trained your ear to his way of speaking, you might not catch the gist, so I'll help you out here.

I hab it/I hode it = Give that to me now
NO! = NO!
Yesh = Yes
Help, Help!! = Somebody please save me. My mommy's trying to trap me in this carseat again, totally against my will!!
WeeAYgo!! On!! = I want to wear my Go Diego Go pajamas/I don't want these other crummy pajamas/I don't want to wear real clothes to daycare (This can sometimes be accompanied by "help, help" which meaning then changes to "somebody please save me, my mommy's trying to trap me in these crummy pajamas without Diego on them"
Baff = bath
Bubbelsh = I want bubbles in my bath
I toot = I just made bubbelsh in my baff
Mooomie = I want to watch "Cars," "Nemo," or "Incredibles". NOW.
DBD = See "moomie"
I do it = I do it
MINE = well, no explanation necessary--its ALL mine.

:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

I've never BEEn so happy before! Did you know that when you knock on people's door, they give you candy and animal cookies?? I think I wanna go visit my neighbors again tomorrow!

Okay, I KNOW there are other parents out there who can answer this question based on their children's television habits: What do you do with a scurvy pirate??

My Mommy is the biggest WITCH!

All cleaned up at home. VERY happy to be crinkling up a Snickers bar and wearing Lightning McQueen on my Jammies! And as a bonus to the evening, Spider Man (AKA "SpydEE mon") came to my house tonight! I'm a new fan of the "man".

For those of you that are interested, Reid's leg is finally feeling well enough for him to have started walking around a little tonight. He's not winning any races yet, but we're happy to see some progress finally. Four days is too long for a toddler not to toddle!

OUR SUNDAY...

Poor little Roo. Last night he was so excited to go to a party ("Oh Boy! Paahty!"). It was a family soup cook, lots of people and their kids outside just enjoying a really pleasant evening. I was looking forward to it too. Early on, Reid saw the boys playing football so he was automatically just drawn to it--both the football, and the thought of playing with the older boys. He was just standing there, watching in awe, wanting to join in...and right about then, he got tackled. My little baby was in the wrong place at the wrong time when one boy chased another. First boy landed on Reid, second boy landed on first boy, and oh...it really hurt.

He calmed down and got snuggly and subdued, but really clingy. When I tried to put him down he screamed to get back up. Eventually we went inside and he just kind of layed around and played with toys...but really quiet and emotional. We got to thinking that maybe his poor little noggin hurt from hitting the ground, so we went home, gave him a bath and let him snuggle til he went to bed.

This morning, more crying, clingy, snuggly behavior. I went to put him down and he screamed and wouldn't put weight on his left leg at all. Oh, we really missed the mark. In retrospect, I realized he hadn't allowed us to put him on his feet since the tackle--so when I thought he was being clingy and antisocial, he was really in pain on his leg! Poor baby. We were able to get him into after hours clinic by 10:30, and he was a trooper during the waiting times, while the doctor examined him and while he got his FIRST (I'm sure there will be many) set of x-rays of his left leg and hips. Good news, no breaks or dislocations. Just some probable soft tissue bruise that will keep him off his feet for awhile.

So we spent the rest of the day coddling and helping him play on the floor. Its really frustrating for him, after being so mobile and fast for so long. Eventually he figured out how to hobble up onto his little fire engine and push himself around the house without having to walk--smart boy!

Throughout the evening he had his bouts of pain where he would cry, but get over it fairly quick, and he really became quite a bit more limber and brave later in the evening, daring to pull himself up and try to climb the arm of the couch or take a few steps or try to play golf. Only a few times his leg just totally gave out on him, but he looked so determined to try. Mama's going to stay home with him tomorrow and hope he gets some of his mobility back before we take him back to daycare. He needs to feel better since we have a trip planned to go to Indy's Children's museum this Saturday!

On a brighter note, since he was being such a stinker right before dinner, Daddy agreed to bundle him up and take him for a wagon ride (an all time favorite!), and here is what he looked like as he rounded the corner for home. Along with the visual you get, imagine it coupled with a real attitude about getting his picture taken...are boys allowed to be called "divas??"

MY LITTLE BOOGER

I started writing this post to tell all about our fun daycare field trip to the Children's Museum and post lots of cool pictures of the action. Let me tell you about it first, then on to the pics. I took LOTS of pictures as Reid ran from exhibit to exhibit, from room to room. To say that he was excited would be a major understatement. There was a big sand box (an all time favorite!). There were metal building pieces to whack together to make noise. There was a room full of water (Oh, the splashing!). There was a room full of balls. There was a room for clanging and banging (Oh, my head!). There was lots of room to run and squeal. There was a giant nose sculpture.

There was one problem. I took about 50 pictures while we were there. You can only see my little angel's face in about 3 of them. He's just too fast. I got pictures of the back of his head, his backside, a stray arm or leg as he bolted out of the camera's range. Really, unless he's asleep, injured or strapped down, photography has become quite a challenge these days. So, now here's what I got in the end to document our day.

A giant sandbox with cool tools.

Multiply the number of balls in this picture by about 1000--
pure heaven!

"Building" things--aka "trying not to whack the
kid with the painted face with a large metal beam"



Climbing into the artistic rendition of a nose.


He's just asking to be sneezed out. Anybody
got an extra tissue??

FALL IS HERE AND SO IS THE FESTIVAL

We went to the Fest on Sunday for Family Day and rode the rides before the big crowds got there. The carousel is my favorite!

I got to ride the choo choo with my cousins. Sammi is sat with me and made sure I had fun and stayed safe. Sammi is such a good cousin!
We got to ride in the front of the dinosaurs that went round and round and up and down. Sammi sat with me while Anna and Bea sat behind us.

Me and mommy and daddy went back to the Festival (which I can say, by the way--"festiBALL!") on Tuesday night. We ate lots of food and saw lots of people and rode the carousel horsies again. I had so much fun. You should all go too!

Love, Reid

SNIPS AND SNAILS AND REIDY ROO TAILS

Little Roo got a new puppy towel that he used for the first time tonight, and I think he's in love. He likes he way it feels on his head and he likes the way he looks in the mirror. So I don't know which is cuter...Puppy with his Mama...

...Puppy coyly peering from his little doggie hood, KNOWING the camera is out and cheezin' it up like the little model he is...

Puppy doing a sporty pose...again with mandatory cute model face...

...or Puppy Roo doing his best impersonation of Obi Wan Kenobi (Luke...use the force...).

Either way, he wore that thing for a long time after his bath and thought he was really something.

CAUGHT RED HANDED...

It all started innocently enough. Mommy asked Daddy to bake a few cookies since he was already eating the dough right out of the bowl. So he kindly popped a dozen in to bake and got them out when the oven beeped. Please don't panic. The cookies were out on the counter with plenty of time to cool (thank Goodness!) before we dug into them. Mommy offered me a few bites of a cookie, and that was okay, I guess, but I got kind of mad because I wanted a WHOLE cookie. I AM a big boy, you know, with big appetites and lots of energy to burn. Is a whole cookie really too much to ask for?? Really?

So, when Mom and Dad got interested in something else, I took my fate into my own hands, and went for it. See, I've been practicing a new tippy-toe maneuver that stretches me waaay up high and I can reach things you'd never dream of. Such as said cookie sheet up on the counter. By the time Mommy heard something going on in there, all the cookies had already fallen to the floor, but I was still holding the cookie sheet up over my head, planning my next move. When she came to help me out, that's when I dropped the cookie sheet on her foot, diverting her attention from me grabbing from the floor the most beautiful, delicious chocolate chip cookie I've ever seen in my life. A whole one (some of the other ones broke...). And as you can see from the pictures below, my plan paid off.

And to Aunt Kari, I have a few things to say to you. First THANK YOU for mopping the kitchen floor, so that when I ate my cookie, it wasn't covered in cat fur or cobwebs or who knows what else that I might have dropped on the floor before. Second, I'M SORRY that I got a bunch of chocolatey goodness from my hands and face on the newly cleaned carpet and couch in the living room. It did come off with a wet paper towel. Even if it hadn't come up, the cookie would have been really, really worth it.

Love, Reid

THANK YOU, WASSMERS!!

I love, love, love my new fort. The steering wheel is best of all! It sits under the shade trees beside the driveway. This winter, we'll probably bring it into the basement so there will be fun things to do when its cold outside.

Love, Reid

WHEN MOMMY HANDS YOU LEMONS...

There are just a few things that can bring Papaw K. to tears, and one of them is watching his youngest grandbaby eat lemons. It never gets tiring to see that cute little cherub face scrunch up into a squinty pucker, apparently. But today, the baby got smart. Nanny handed him a lemon and he excitedly grabbed it and just cut out the middle man altogether and started puckering without ever having to eat the fruit...When offered a bite, he gave a definite shake of the head, seeming to say, "I'll perform for you like a circus monkey and make the funny face, but you aren't gonna make me eat that sour stuff!"

In other news...Bryan and I were amazed when our little guy started counting the other night. First, he just repeated saying the numbers after us, but then proceeded to count to six without any prompts at all. "UHN...TYU... FEE...PO... PIE... DICK" Gosh, I hope that's an indication that he'll be good at math someday. Even if it isn't, just try to tell me that's not cute! But you'll have to take our word for it, because that's one trick he probably won't do for the general public. He's just now cooperating with showing people he knows his animal noises and body parts when we ask him to. Baby tricks are fun!

HELLO FROM BOSTON!!

This slicky slide LOOKS harmless, but Mommy has a big fat abrasion on her left elbow that says different!

This is the "Tadpole Playground" at Boston Commons. Reidy Roo got to play play play and get some his wiggles out after being on a plane all day Friday and then in a hotel room. No, Mommy's not throwing him in head first into the little spray park, just letting him get a little wet because he was just DYING to get wet, and we didn't anticipate this was here.

So, eventually, after he saw a bunch of other kids getting wet and having fun, we decided to let him go for it and just stripped him down. He had a ball and pretty much had to be dragged away. It was worth it to watch him have so much fun.

Then we followed up with a trip to the Boston Children's Museum. The theme of the museum has to do with construction ala "Big Dig". There's Reid in a little construction zone helping Daddy stay safe. Can you say "STIM-U-LA-TION?" There were balls and bubbles and trucks and noises and water. We didn't get probably half way through before we called it a day and headed off to get something to eat.

All before 1p.m., we rode trains, elevators, got breakfast, splashed with the frogs, played on the playground, fed pigeons, gave change to a guitar player in the subway station, went to the children's museum, ate lunch, and got back to the hotel in time for a three hour Woobie nap.

Off to more adventures later!

Love you!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Just wanted to shout out words of love and thanks to our fathers out there. Papaw is in Florida with the girls and the kids--They've been there a day and I'll be he's already burned the tops of his feet. I'm grilling today in honor of him. Hope you liked your new apron! We didn't get to see Daddo today because Bryan hasn't been feeling well and Sam is in town. No one else needs to get sick in the process of a visit. That is our gift to you, Daddo. And, Bryan is starting to feel better, but has been helping take care of a cranky, teething, sweet little boy all day, who didn't lay down to take a nap until almost 4 p.m. Motrin is our friend.

And in honor of Dads everywhere...Reid kindly posed for the following pictures this morning. I'll give you three guesses what he's doing while he's "reading". No, I'm not kidding...

Me and Uncle Sam and Daddy

Every Boy Needs a Rat and a Dragon

I've Got a Monkey on My Back!

Soooo Worn Out...

DRAGONS AND MONKEYS AND RATS, OH MY!

My Uncle Sam came to see me a few weeks ago, and he came bearing gifts! Not every little boy is as lucky as me...not every boy's uncle comes from far away with dragons, monkeys and rats. Stuffed ones of course. He also brought me a big stuffed dog, but its too big and heavy for me to drag around, so its not in any of the pictures.

So here's the update...I am so big that I walk anywhere I want to go. I still do a little wobbling and falling, but I am a true toddler now! I love playing "ba-ball" with the basketball that Mama Nikki bought me for my birthday. I can bounce it or roll it back and forth and get so excited when Mom or Dad plays with me.

I am learning all kinds of words:

Ba-ball = basketball
Uh-OH
Book
UnDAT! = I want that! (usually said 15 times in a row with great enthusiasm and about something he's not supposed to have)
Tenkewwwww! = Thank You
Daddy
Mama
Baby
Bye-Bye
Poop
Fish

This week I even said my first "sentence!" Mommy gave me a new book and I got so excited and said "Tenkewww! Da Book! Tenkewww! Da Book!" over and over. Unnecessary translation: "Thank you for the book!"

In a nutshell...I am a really smart cool baby, and I like to chew a rat tail every once in a while. Happy summer!

Love, Reid

BOOKS, FABULOUS BOOKS!!

Everywhere you look around our house, there is a children's book laying around, almost to the point of being dangerous (do you know how slippery those little suckers are if you step on one that's laying flat on the carpet??).

Mr. Reid LOVES books. He loves touch and feel books, books that play a little tune, books with paper pages and books with cardboard pages. He looks at books about letters, numbers, shapes and Bible Stories. He. Loves. Books. With the exception of only one book ever. "I Love You This Much" about Big and Little Nut Brown Hare. He. Hates. That. Book. Don't know why, probably never will.

His most recent favorite is a John Deere book about a tractor. I bought it for him yesterday and since I brought it home, he has requested that one of us read it to him about 4523938 times.

We've gotten books as gifts and of course, we buy some every few weeks to keep things fresh, because when your baby shuffles through ALL the books fifteen times every our and pulls out the one he wants, holds it up to his Daddy and says "book??", then you better be ready to read. And here's the thing. Even if HE doesn't get bored with his books, WE do, and we need variety.

Another great and valuable resource for books is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Dolly's foundation wants every community's child to have a new book every month for the first five years to promote reading. So individual communities can sign on and commit to fund the program for people in their area. Doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, if your community runs the program, your kiddo can get age-appropriate, quality books in the mail EVERY MONTH FOR FIVE YEARS!! Wow. Our community operates the program through Deaconess Women's Hospital. To find out if your community offers the program, go to the following website: www.imaginationlibrary.com . You can also sign up for books for your family at that site.

Happy Reading!

Em

When baby makes too much noise, just cork him up, right?? Actually, Reid likes to put shape sorter thingies in his mouth...often.

Easter Egg hunting with Great Aunt Debbie
All my cousins at Nanny's house

MOVIN', GROOVIN', AND GROWIN'

I have been so bad about telling you all about my latest adventures. What with being cute and all, it leaves little time for baby blogging, you know?? So let me try and catch you up...

I have started to get braver with my walking, putting 7-8 steps together at a time, wandering away from the safety of the couch. And at my Minas Koressel's I learned how to climb stairs on Easter...wow.

I'm still loving my books and now I'll point to interesting things on the page. Once I even repeated after Nano Morrison and said "blue" when we were reading the book about colors. Well, actually I said "boo" but you get the picture.

I like music, and am starting to get a little taste of the boogie fever. I dance best on my knees on the floor. Sometimes I push the doorbell button on my little tent twice just so I can dance. Push it once, it rings the doorbell. Push it twice and it plays "No place like home."

Mommy is trying to slowly wean me off bottles, but we're taking it slow. I only drink milk now, though, No formula anymore. And I can finally use the sippy cup like a pro! Yay for me!!

So, now you're caught up with all my shenanigans. Seems like every time you blink, I can do something new.

MY FIRST HAIRCUT!! CALL ME "SLICK."

You saw my crazy hair in the last post. Well, Mommy sent that picture to Leeanna as proof that I really needed a haircut bad, and she worked me into her schedule at the shop. We went on Friday night, and boy was I good. Mommy held me and tried to make sure I didn't wiggle and lose an ear. Daddy entertained me so I would look the right way. But even with all that, it took Leeanna's experience and her brilliant idea to get the job done right. If you zoom in on the top picture, you'll see in my hand...a CHEET-O!! I never had a Cheet-o before, and ya know what?? I. Like. Cheet-os. Even if they're covered in my own hair. And you can see from the picture below, how handsome I am with my new slick cut...both ears intact.

CHECK OUT THIS FAR OUT NAP HAIR, MAN!

52 WEEKS OF REID

Yeah, yeah, I know what I said. 365 days. So I've already failed miserably...sue me. I am amending my previous post so people don't get their knickers in a twist. I can tell ya that there is probably a picture (or ten) of Reid taken every single day--but there have lately not been enough hours in the day to get on and blog daily.

So here are some favorites of this week, which include the first birthday party, playing at the park, and some really seriously bad nap hair. Enjoy!

(edited later: OOPS, the site will only take so many pics at one time...so you will see the bad nap hair on another post!)